David Reimer

David Reimer - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of David Reimer

David Reimer (born Bruce Peter Reimer; 22 August 1965 – 4 May 2004) was a Canadian boy raised as a girl following medical advice and intervention after his penis was severely injured during a botched circumcision in infancy.

This profile of David Reimer covers Infancy, Forced "sexual rehearsal", Puberty and adolescence, Adulthood and Death and Legacy.

The psychologist John Money oversaw the case and incorrectly reported the reassignment as successful and as evidence that gender identity is primarily learned. The academic sexologist Milton Diamond later reported that Reimer's realization that he was not a girl occurred between the ages of 9 and 11 years and that he was living as a male by the age of 15. Well known in medical circles for years anonymously as the "John/Joan" case, Reimer later went public with his story to help discourage similar medical practices. He killed himself at age 38, two days after separating from his wife.

Infancy of David Reimer

David Reimer was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on 22 August 1965. David was the elder twin boy. He was originally named Bruce, and his identical twin was named Brian. Their parents were Janet and Ron Reimer, a couple of Mennonite descent who had married in December 1964. At the age of six months, after concern was raised about how both of them urinated, the boys were diagnosed with phimosis. They were referred for circumcision at the age of seven months. General practitioner Jean-Marie Huot performed the operation using the unconventional method of electrocauterization, but the procedure burned David's penis beyond surgical repair. The doctors did not operate on Brian, whose phimosis later cleared without surgical intervention.

The parents, concerned about their son's prospects for future happiness and sexual function without a penis, took him to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in early 1967 to see John Money, a psychologist who was developing a reputation as a pioneer in the field of sexual development and gender identity, based on his work with intersex patients. Money was a prominent proponent of the "theory of gender neutrality"—that gender identity developed primarily as a result of social learning from early childhood and that it could be changed with the appropriate behavioural interventions. The Reimers had seen Money being interviewed in February 1967 on the Canadian news program This Hour Has Seven Days, during which he discussed his theories about gender.

At that time, surgical construction of the vagina was more advanced than construction of the penis, and Money believed that Reimer would be happiest in adulthood living as a woman with functioning genitalia.

Money and the Hopkins family team persuaded the baby's parents that sex reassignment surgery would be in Reimer's best interest. At the age of 22 months, David underwent a bilateral orchiectomy, in which his testes were surgically removed and a rudimentary vulva was constructed by genital plastic surgery. David was reassigned to be raised as female and given the name Brenda (similar to his birth name, Bruce). Psychological support for the reassignment and surgery was provided by John Money, who continued to see Reimer annually for consultations and to assess the outcome. This reassignment was considered an especially important test case of the social learning concept of gender identity for two reasons: first, Reimer's identical twin brother, Brian, made an ideal control because the brothers shared genes, family environments, and the intrauterine environment; second, this was reputed to be the first reassignment and reconstruction performed on a male infant who had no abnormality of prenatal or early postnatal sexual differentiation.

Forced "sexual rehearsal" of David Reimer

Money reported on Reimer's progress as the "John/Joan case", describing apparently successful female gender development, even after David informed his father at age 14 that he had always felt that he was a boy, bringing the experiment to an end.

According to John Colapinto, who published a biography of Reimer in 2001, the sessions with Money included what Money called "childhood sexual rehearsal play". Money theorized that reproductive behaviour formed the foundation of gender, and that "play at thrusting movements and copulation" was a key aspect of gender development in all primates. Starting at age six, according to Brian, the twins were forced to act out sexual acts, with David playing the female role—Money made David get down on all fours, and Brian was forced to "come up behind and place his crotch against buttocks". Money also forced David, in another sexual position, to have his "legs spread" with Brian on top. On "at least one occasion" Money took a photograph of the two children doing these activities.

When either child resisted these activities, Money would get angry. Both David and Brian recall that Money was mild-mannered around their parents, but ill-tempered when alone with them. When they resisted inspecting each other's genitals, Money got aggressive. David says, "He told me to take my clothes off, and I just did not do it. I just stood there. And he screamed, 'Now!' Louder than that. I thought he was going to give me a whupping. So I took my clothes off and stood there shaking."

Money's rationale for these various treatments was his belief that "childhood 'sexual rehearsal play'" was important for a "healthy adult gender identity".

Both David and Brian were traumatized with Brian speaking about it "only with the greatest emotional turmoil", and David unwilling to speak about the details publicly, although his wife, Jane Fontane, stated that David had privately told her the same story.

Puberty and adolescence

Money wrote, "The child's behavior is so clearly that of an active little girl and so different from the boyish ways of her twin brother."

The twins attended Glenwood School in Winnipeg, and from the age of 14, David attended R.B. Russell Vocational High School. He eventually ceased attending the school and was tutored privately.

By the age of 13 years, Reimer was experiencing suicidal depression and he told his parents he would take his own life if they made him see Money again. Finally, on 14 March 1980, Reimer's parents told him the truth about his sex reassignment, following advice from Reimer's endocrinologist and psychiatrist. At the age of 14, having been informed of his past by his father, Reimer decided to assume a male gender identity, calling himself David. He underwent treatment to reverse the reassignment, including testosterone injections, a double mastectomy, and phalloplasty operations.

Adulthood

Reimer worked in a slaughterhouse and then worked odd jobs. On 22 September 1990, he married Jane Fontane and would adopt her three children. His hobbies included camping, fishing, antiques and collecting old coins.

His case came to international attention in 1997 when he told his story to Milton Diamond, an academic sexologist who persuaded Reimer to allow him to report the outcome to dissuade physicians from treating other infants similarly. Soon after, Reimer went public with his story and John Colapinto published a widely disseminated and influential account in Rolling Stone magazine in December 1997. The article won the National Magazine Award for Reporting.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Reimer), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.